To Whom It May Concern
by wulfler
Summary: My take on the 'what if Hermione had died during or after the Dept of Mysteries battle.' Kind of dark. It was planned as a one-shot, but has ballooned and will now have several chapters.


Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter or any of its related characters. This is JKR's little world, I'm just doing this for fun.

Now for a bit of background on this story: I was planning on doing this as a one shot, but when I started writing this, it just ballooned up to what you are about to read. And even then, it is not all of it, just some of what I have written so far. Still working on it though. This story started as a dream, then solidified into a decent story after hearing about some events that happened to some soldiers that I know. Yeah I know, a bit of a stretch, but it's how it happened. This a bit of a dark story, but not to dark. Let me know what you think of the first part. If you don't like it or think that it needs to be revised, then by all means, send me a PM.

Now, on with the story.

* * *

To Whom It May Concern

**Privet Drive**

**Roughly 7 am**

**About 1 week after the end of term**

With a slight pop, a figure appeared on the street known as Privet Drive. Taking a look around to make sure that no one had noticed her arrival, the T-shirt wearing pink haired young woman set off down the street. A loose bit of string from the bottom of her pants caused her to stumble slightly.

As she made her way down the street, she thought about the last few weeks. The battle at the Ministry of Magic. The exposure of Voldemort to the public at large. Wizarding Brittan finally realizing the danger that it was in. Receiving letters from Harry every three days saying that he was ok. Giving a silent sigh, she pressed on.

Finally making it to a hedge near # 4, the heart shape faced rookie Auror known as Nymphadora Tonks looked around for the person she was supposed to relieve. Not seeing him right away, she inhaled a deep breath through her nose. A rather pungent smell assaulted her senses from the left.

Making her way over to where the smell was coming from, she stumbled and almost lost her balance when she literally kicked the unconscious figure lying on the ground under an Invisibility cloak. The prone figure gave a snort and a grunt as they were woken up.

"What's up, Tonksie," slurred the prone figure on the ground as he removed the cloak from his head.

"Dung," The exasperated young Auror growled at the prone figure, ''how many times have I told you not to call me that?'

"Lots," slurred the drunken person known as Dung. "It's all quiet here, Tonks. Nothin' happenin' here at all. Ain't seen no one fo' awhile."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," grunted Dung as he tried to raise himself to a standing position. He finally succeeded on the third try.

"Fine," huffed the irate Tonks, as she wrinkled her nose at the slob. "Have you ever heard of a shower?"

"Yeah," Dung grunted," But why should I spend good money on taking one?''

"Just leave," seethed Tonks. She was really starting to not like this thieving reprobate.

Nodding, Dung left with a slight pop. Moving away from the foul smelling area, Tonks cast a Disallusionment Charm on herself and settled in for her turn at guarding Harry Potter.

A few hours into her watch, the pink haired young lady heard the sound of some one Apparating on to the street nearby. Turning slightly towards the sound, she saw it was her mentor, Alastor 'Mad Eye' Moody.

The grizzled ex Auror with the protruding fake eye stumped his way down the street towards # 4. Along the way, the one legged man took in the quiet neighborhood, his magical eye whizzing madly in all directions. Finally reaching the invisible young Auror, Mad Eye stomped a little closer to the hedge.

"Hmm," came from the scarred man.

"What?"

"Tonks," grunted the slightly paranoid ex Auror, ''do you know where everyone is?"

"What do you mean,'' huffed the heart shaped face young Metamorph. "I know the Dursleys left a few days ago to go on holiday, leaving Harry to fend for himself for awhile. Why?''

"Well," grunted Mad Eye, "judging by the state of these wards, Harry isn't around to recharge them and from the look of them, hasn't been for several days."

Tonks gasped when Mad Eye said that.

_No_, thought Tonks, _Harry has to be here, I saw him enter this house myself_.

"He, he," stuttered the pink haired rookie Auror, "he has to be here. I saw him enter that house myself at least six days ago."

"Well," growled Mad Eye, who now had both of his eyes focused on the house at # 4, "I can't find a trace of him anywhere in that house.''

Turning to look at each other, they both had the same thought at the same time. Paling at the implication, the two members of the Order of the Phoenix charged the front door.

Not bothering to check to see if anyone was watching, Moody blew the front door off its hinges as he charged inside. Tonks was right on his heels.

While Moody cleared the downstairs, Tonks sprinted up the stairs,taking them two at a time. Arriving at Harry's room and seeing the numerous locks on the door and the cat flap at the bottom of it, the young Metamorph had to hold on to her anger at the Dursleys. With a quick spell, she reduced the door kindling.

The young woman was shocked at the state of the room. The dilapidated bed had been smashed beyond repair, its mattress ripped to pieces. All that remained of the wardrobe was splinters. Harry's trunk had been shattered and all of his books and school supplies destroyed. Holes had been punched into the walls. Only two things had survived the devastation, Hedwig's cage, which was thankfully empty, and the tiny desk that sat just below the open window. Even the desk chair had been savaged.

"Moody," yelled Tonks. "We may have a problem!"

As she made her way over to the desk, the no longer pink haired young woman heard Moody stumping up the stairs as fast as he could. By the time the grizzled ex Auror had made it to the ruined bedroom's doorway, Tonks had finished reading the note that was left on the desk.

"What have you found, Tonks," growled Moody as he took in the destroyed room.

Turning a paled face to her mentor, Tonks just pointed to the desk and the letter that it held. Stumping his way over to the desk, Mad Eye was wondering what could cause the usually unflappable young woman to look like that. He found out when he started to read the letter that stuck to the desktop.

_To whom it may concern,_

_My name is, or was more than likely, Harry Potter. Over the course of my life I have been known by many names- Freak, Boy, Punch Bag, The Boy Who Lived, Dark Lord in Training, The Chosen One, just to name a few. None of them have reflected the real me, just Harry._

_There have been only five people who have ever really ever known me, and four of them are now dead because of me, my Mum, my Dad, Sirius and Hermione. The fifth one has decided to disown me over the death of the last two, Remus Lupin._

_Those that I thought were my friends, have deserted me, telling me that it is my fault that those that I have cared about most are now dead. My unwillingness to listen to reason, my 'saving people thing'. Funny, I never heard them complain when it was them that I was saving._

_Then there's Dumbledore. The one person that I thought who could really understand what I was going through. It turns out that he decided that it was time that I learn the reason that Voldemort has been after me since I was born. That I was now old enough to shoulder the burden of what I have to do._

_Instead of helping me, he just dumps me back here at Privet Drive, telling me that I will be safe here and that I need to work this out on my own._

_With no friends to talk with and no one here who really understands, I feel that it is time to end this so called thing that is my life. By the time anyone finally decides it time to check up on me, I will more than likely be dead._

_Since I no longer have any reason to live and every reason to die, I am going to seek out Voldemort and end this one way or another. Since those that I care about most are no longer alive, I don't really think that I will be missed all that much._

_My only regret is that I never really got the chance to tell a certain person that I cared for her more than a friend., but I will be able to tell her soon enough._

_Goodbye._

_Harry James Potter_

_The Broken Boy Who Finally Gave Up and Died._

_PS: If you are reading this, Dursleys, then I suggest that you run far and run fast since my death will let the real freaks and monsters find you._

_PPS: Tonks, take good care of Hedwig if she decides to find you. She was and always has been my truest friend._

Once he had finished reading the letter, Mad Eye started to curse the air blue. By the time he was done, the air had been so fouled, you could almost cut it with a knife. Looking over at Tonks, their eyes met in complete understanding. By listening to Dumbledore, they had failed to guard in the person that they had been assigned to protect, Harry Potter.

"Ah, lad," Moody said in a thick emotional voice, "what have you gone and done now?"

Quickly reaching a decision, he locked eyes with Tonks again. She nodded in understanding.

"Right," grunted Mad Eye. "Tonks, do you know where he might have gone?"

Looking over the note one more time, she simply shrugged her shoulders. As she reached the part about taking care of Hedwig, an idea popped in to her head.

"There is a chance," she muttered to herself.

"What?"

Looking up from the note, she stared into Moody's real eye.

"Well, I know that Harry used to let Hermione use Hedwig to send letters to her parents. He may have gone there for a bit. I can check there and see if they know anything."

This caused a similar idea to start rattling around in Moody's head. As it did, it reminded him of something that happened the day before in the Auror's office at the Ministry of Magic.

"Alright," growled the scarred man, "you start there with the Grangers. I need to check on something at the Auror's office. Off you go."

With that being said, the ex Auror popped away to the ministry. As he left, he fired off a messenger spell. Tonks saw the silvery spell speed on its way. Sighing heavily, she was not looking forward to the visit to the Grangers, especially after what had happened in the Department of Mysteries.

With a final look around, Tonks returned her hair to its normal bright bubblegum pink and Apparated away from # 4 Privet Drive. Silence once again reigned in the unpleasant home.

**Granger Residence**

**Crawley, England**

**About 950 am**

Arriving with barely a sound, Tonks popped into existence in a secluded section of a park near the Granger residence. Not really wanting to do this, but knowing the importance of the situation, the young lady exited the park and headed towards the Granger home.

The Granger home was located in an upscale area with neatly manicured yards and well taken care of driveways and sidewalks. Each home was set back from the roadway a bit to provide a front lawn. The lasciviousness of each house indicated that this neighborhood was populated by those who were considered professionals: doctors, solicitors, corporate executives.

Getting to the front door sooner than she had hoped, the T-shirt wearing woman raised her hand and knocked on the door. Before she could ready herself for the coming confrontation, the door was jerked open. The person standing in the doorway was projecting an air of grief and anger that she had not really encountered before.

Standing well over six feet in height and well muscled, John Granger was not a happy man currently. Especially upon seeing who was standing on his front porch.

"Yes," he hissed at Tonks, "can I help you?"

Gulping slightly, Tonks looked into the same expressive intelligent brown eyes that Hermione had possessed.

"Um," she said finally finding her voice. "My name is Tonks and I am from the Auror department of the Ministry of Magic. I need to ask you a few questions about something very important. May I come in?"

"NO," shouted the very grief stricken parent, "you may not!"

The door was slammed shut before she could say or do anything. With a very shocked and surprised look on her face, Tonks just stood there, trying to figure out what had just happened. She could her a very heated discussion going on behind the door. Before she could make up her mind just what to do, the front door re-opened.

Standing there was a short woman with bushy brown hair and a trim figure. Her eyes shown like sapphires in her anger.

"You can come in, but you have five minutes," hissed an angry Jean Granger, "to explain what this about. I then suggest that you leave and never darken our doorstep again."

Moving aside so the pink haired Auror could enter, Jean had also backed up to the left. Tonks noticed this and looked over to where the male Granger was standing. He had taken up a position to the right and was casually holding a shotgun aimed in her general direction. By splitting up like that, they had made it so she would have to divide her focus and attention between the two.

In order to make time to understand the situation, Tonks gently closed the front door. Turning around, she decided that she would be as calm and as nice as possible here.

Seeing the grief maddened look that she was getting from Mr Granger, Tonks made sure that her hand did not stray towards her wand. Shrugging her shoulders mentally, the young Auror decided that she would address herself to Mrs Granger. She also made sure that she held her hands up in a placating gesture.

"Mrs Granger," she started politely, "I know that you and your husband are grieving right now for Hermione. Those of us that knew her are also grieving for her, but I am not here to give you some fake platitudes from the Ministry. Those would be waisted, since they really don't care about Muggleborns."

She continued on before either Granger could respond.

"I am here because Harry Potter is missing and I am hoping that you can tell me if you have seen him within the last week or so. Have you?"

She quickly noticed that Mr Granger's hands had tightened on the shotgun and his rage had gone up a notch. She could see that he was about to say something, when Mrs Granger spoke.

"Yes, he stopped by here," Jean said with heat in her voice. "He said that he was sorry that he had caused the death of our daughter and accepted responsibility for it. He also told us what had really happened at your Ministry and how she had died."

Jean's voice hitched at that point and her shoulders slumped. Looking over at her husband, she saw him nod slightly at the unasked question. Nodding her head in agreement, she pressed on.

"As much as we would like to hate that young man, we can't. It's not what Hermione would have wanted. Ever since she started at that school, all she could talk about was Harry Potter and how noble, honest and sincere he was. How he had protected her on several occasions from the bigots at school and evil creatures. How he was the first person ever to care about her as a human being and not just some bookworm who could help him with his grades."

"She told us of the adventures that they would get up to. Our lovely daughter told us how Harry had taught her how to live outside of books and experience life instead of just reading about it. In her last letter to us, she said that she thought that Harry was starting to like her as more than just a friend. She was so hopeful about that."

Jean just couldn't continue as she broke down and let the tears fall where they may.

Slowly turning to look at John Granger, Tonks saw that his knuckles had whitened as he was holding the shotgun so tight. She also saw rage battling with grief in his eyes. In an anguished voice, he picked up the story.

"Potter showed up about five days ago, late at night. He was a right mess himself. He looked like he hadn't eaten or slept in days. My first instinct was to kill him myself once he said who he was, but I could see that he was hurting worse than us about Hermione's death."

"We let him stay once he asked if he could just talk with us. All he wanted to do was talk with us, to explain things. He did. It took him close to five hours to go over everything. Once he started, he just couldn't seem to stop."

Tonks could see the rage slowly draining from the big man as he related that night. In a hollow voice, John continued.

"He told us about his home life before going to that school. How he was treated by his relatives. How your Headmaster knew how he was being treated and did nothing to stop it. The freedom he felt once he was able to start school away from his relatives. Meeting Hermione and wanting to be friends with her since she was just like him, an outcast."

"Potter told us about the Troll in their first year and what had caused her to be in that bathroom. How she helped him beat that madman at the end of the year. He went on and on about everything that had happened there over the years. He kept on talking about how he never would have made it through all of these years in your world without her."

"By the end, Potter told us that he had finally realized just how much Hermione meant to him, but he just didn't have the courage to tell before she was killed. Then he told us what had happened to him right after the battle was over with. How your Headmaster had sent him back to school as if this was just an everyday thing. He mentioned the talk that your Headmaster had had with him. He didn't tell us exactly what was said, but we understand that he was finally told why that madman had been after Potter for so long."

Finally pausing to get a hold of his raging emotions, Jean had finally composed herself and took over.

"We asked him if he had really cared for our daughter and do you know how he responded, young lady? DO you? He said that she meant more to him than his own life. That she was more important than him! That it should have been him that was dead and not Hermione! That he didn't deserve to live! Now tell me, Ms Tonks, what kind of people do you have in your world of magic that would make a young man think that?"

Before Tonks could answer, Jean pressed on.

"Doesn't matter. By then we could see just how tired and hungry he was, so we forced him to have a bit food and a lie down. He was out before he finished eating. We just let him sleep and went to bed ourselves."

"When we got up the next morning, Harry had fixed us breakfast. He then asked if he could send some flowers to Hermione's funeral. When we told him that we didn't have one scheduled yet because your Headmaster and your Ministry had not given us our daughter's body back, he got so angry that he was almost glowing. He called for someone named 'Dobby', who appeared out of thin air next to Harry. When Harry explained to this little creature what was going on, this 'Dobby' just disappeared then reappeared a few minutes later with our daughter's body."

"Harry somehow got that 'Dobby' to bring our daughter back to us. Before you ask, yes we will be having a funeral for her and no, no one from your world is invited. It will be a private ceremony, so don't bother attending."

"Before he left us, Harry told us it would be best if we left Brittan for a while. He said that a war was coming and that we, being Hermione's parents, we would be targets, so it would be best if we left the country. We agreed to leave after our daughter has been buried."

"When I asked him what he planned on doing next, he gave me the hardest most determined look that I have ever seen. He said that he was going to make it right. That he was going to end this one way or another. Then he simply left."

"The day after he had left, we got a visit from someone called Snargtooth. He introduced himself as the Potter's personal banker. He said that Potter had setup an account with him to help us with expenses, leaving the country and setting up no matter where we eventually settle. When we told this Snargtooth that we couldn't take Harry's money, Snargtooth said that it was a matter of Honor for Potter and that he could not return the money. If we chose not to use it, it was up to us, but it was there if and when we need it. He gave us with a checkbook and a credit card. He also said that his bank would be providing security for Hermione's funeral. Then the guy left."

Before Tonks could respond, the patter of little feet could be heard coming towards the front room. Into the room burst a young girl about five years old and looking almost like Hermione, but this little one had sapphire eyes instead of chocolate brown.

"Mummy," the little one said, "I'm hungry. Can I have something eat?"

**Ministry Of Magic**

**London, England**

**About 950 am**

After leaving Tonks to go talk to the Grangers, Moody appeared at the Apparation point in the Ministry of Magic lobby. Making his way as quickly as he could through the upgraded security checkpoint, the magical eye wearing man stumped over to the lifts. Getting into the first one that was available, he pushed the button for the Department for Magical Law Enforcement.

As the doors closed, he smirked at the damage that was still visible even after almost two weeks since the battle in the Ministry atrium. The Fountain of Magical Brethren was still in shambles, but the lower half of the Fountain still worked. Most of the shattered glass had been replaced and several of the scorch marks and pot holes had been fixed, but there was still a few left to take care of.

Making sure that he was the only one in the lift, Moody looked up at the ceiling. Seeing that there was nothing harmful with the floating airplane messages, he returned his attention to the doors of the lift.

Upon announcing that the lift had reached the DMLE level, the doors opened and a blast of noise hit the retired Auror. Stumping his way into the noise maelstrom, Mad Eye made his way through the cubiclized large office towards the break room. He figured that if the Auror that he was looking for was not in, then someone who was in the room should be able to tell him where Auror in question was.

Reaching the break room without being challenged slightly annoyed the grumpy Mad Eye. Sighing quietly, he entered the small room. Seeing that the four break tables had people occupying them, he stumped his way over to the one on the corner that his quarry was sitting at along with a few other Aurors.

"WILKINS," shouted Moody, causing everyone in the room to jump. "I need to talk to you. Your desk, now!"

As Moody turned to leave the room, he knew that Wilkins would follow him without question. His tone of voice left no room for doubt or error. Several chairs scraped as the people in the room stood up from their tables and followed the grizzled ex Auror out into the main Auror room.

Quickly taking the lead, the mid level Auror led Mad Eye to his desk. Once there he turned and asked how he could help the esteemed Master Auror Moody. The others from the break room had gathered around also, just to see what had caught Moody's interest.

"Enough flattery, Wilkins," grunted Moody. "Yesterday, you and a few others went down to a seaside town to clean up after a Death Eater attack. I read your report, but what I need to know is where the living witness' memory strand is at. There is something in your report that I need to checkout. I need to see the memory of the attack."

"Sir," gulped the suddenly very nervous Wilkins, "I can't do that! That is against the witness protection policy!"

"Wilkins," growled Moody dangerously, "I need to see that memory and I need to see it now! You lot, what're you looking at? Don't you have cases to work on? MOVE IT!"

The others quickly remembered that they did indeed have cases that needed to be worked on immediately and scampered away from the irate paranoid ex Auror. Wilkins suddenly felt very alone facing the said irate paranoid ex Auror.

"Well," growled Moody.

Before the scared Wilkins could answer, a deep voice came from behind Moody.

"Alastor," the deep voice said, "you know we can not allow you to see that memory. It is against the law and could cost us the case if we and when we finally do capture who ever did it.

"Shacklebolt," growled the unsurprised Moody, his magical eye peering through his head, "this has to do with a disappearance. I need to see that memory if I am going to have a clue as to where to start looking for the missing person."

"And whom," continued the unperturbed Kingsley Shacklebolt, "would you be looking for, Alastor?"

"That's classified," grunted Mad Eye.

Kingsley's usually calm demeanor cracked for a split second as he realized exactly who Mood was looking for, then he recovered himself.

"Follow me, Alastor. You to, Wilkins."

With that, the tall black bald Auror turned on his heel and strode towards his office. Moody and the slightly scared Wilkins followed. Once everyone was in the office, Kingsley shut the door and activated the privacy wards. He leaned back on his desk while Moody and Wilkins took up positions next to the door.

"Now," the deep voice Senior Auror started, "what does the attack that happened yesterday have to do with a missing person? By the way, Wilkins, what you hear in this office is covered under the Auror Secrecy Oath, so no talking about it to anyone. Understand?"

Wilkins just nodded his head since he was unable to find his voice.

"Say it," growled the scarred ex Auror.

Wilkins jumped slightly when Moody addressed him, having a quick flashback to his training days under the paranoid Mad Eye.

"Understood," squeaked Wilkins.

The scared Auror flashed briefly as the Oath took affect.

With a grunt of acknowledgement, Mad Eye looked at Kingsley and explained why he needed to see the memory strand.

"Potter is missing. So are the Dursleys. Potter vanished about a week ago and the Dursleys left a few days later for an 'extended holiday'.

The others in the office could see the implied quotes around that last part. Mad Eye continued on.

"When I read about that attack yesterday and the surviving witness' statement, something caught my eye. I just didn't put it together until I went to check on Potter."

Moody turned to Wilkins.

"In your report, you said that the witness saw and talked with a thin young man with green eyes. Your witness also said that tried to protect her and her younger brother during the attack. This thin young man with green eyes also was able to beat off several Dementors and take out multiple Death Eaters. He also traded barbs with the leader of the Death Eaters, who was a female. That sound about right, Wilkins?"

Even though Wilkins was scared of Moody, the Auror was not to be considered stupid or slow in anyway. He quickly put it together the way that Moody had and also from several different directions. Kingsley was right behind him.

"Yes," the no longer intimidated Wilkins said. "The witness did say those things and then allowed me to remove a memory copy of the attack from her head. I didn't Obliviate her either."

Before the other two could get on his case about that breach of protocol, he rushed on.

"The witness is a Squib or very low level Witch. Plus, I had the feeling that if I had tried to harm her, I would have been attacked, just like those Death Eaters."

Wilkins shuddered slightly as he remembered the feeling of being watched and the faintly burning green eyes when had brought his wand up to Obliviate the witness.

"Alright," the suddenly hard eyed Shacklebolt said to Wilkins, "what makes you say that, Wilkins?"

Looking at both of the other Aurors in the small room, Wilkins realized that he had better have a very good reason for going against policy. Gulping, he aired his feeling.

"I could have sworn that when I raised my wand to Obliviate the witness, a pair of burning green eyes appeared over her left shoulder. I just knew that if I had cast that spell, it would have been my last. I never want to see those eyes again."

Wilkins shuddered involuntary again as he remembered those eyes. Kingsley and Mad Eye shared a look. They knew of only one person who had eyes like that, Harry Potter.

"Wilkins," the hard voiced black Senior Auror said, "go and get that memory from the evidence room and take it to Madam Bones' office, we will meet you there. She needs to in on this."

With that, Shacklebolt deactivated the privacy wards and let Wilkins out of the office. As soon as the other Auror was out of the office, Kingsley resealed the door and brought the wards back up.

"What is really going on, Alastor," demanded the bald black man as he turned back to Mad Eye.

"Potter," grunted the very scarred man, "left what amounts to a suicide note. It basically says that he has nothing left to live for since Granger and Black both died. Black, as you know, died in the Vale Chamber. Granger died at Hogwarts while Dumbledore talked with Potter. The kid didn't even get to say goodbye to either of them."

"Potter also said that he now has no friends, since they blame him for Granger's death and that Dumbledore has been lying to him from the get go. With all of that running through his head and no one to talk to, Potter has decided that he is going to have it out with Voldemort and he doesn't care if he dies."

"We have to find Potter. Dumbledore says that he is the key to defeating Voldemort. I have already sent a message to Dumbledore. He should be getting about now."

"Very well," Kingsley said sadly. "Come on, we need to get to Bones' office before Wilkins does."

With that, the tall Auror undid the wards and fired off a messenger spell to his boss saying that they were coming and needed to see her right away. Moody waited until Shacklebolt had passed him before moving out of the office. The door automatically shut behind them and sealed itself.

Kingsley quickly led the way to Bones' office. Once in the Department Head's outer office, the secretary just motioned them straight on into the Director's office. Nodding his thanks, Shacklebolt led Moody in.

Seated behind her desk, sat Madam Bones. A formidable looking witch with short graying hair who had a penchant for wearing a monocle and being hard nosed when it came to enforcing the laws of the land. She didn't take kindly to people who broke the law.

The office was decorated in neutral colors. On the imposing, but functional desk were three pictures. The largest was of her, her brother, his wife and her new born niece. The second was slightly smaller and was of just her and Susan, the niece from the previous picture, when she was about seven. The final picture was of Susan taken the year before during the Yule Ball. Surrounding the desk were shelves lined with books and a cupboard.

"Your message said the you needed to see me," the aging DMLE head said without preamble, "and that it was a matter of such urgency that I had to cancel an appointment with the Chief Warlock for it. You had better have a good reason for it, Shacklelbolt."

Nodding he head, the deep voice Auror launched into the reason for the request, explaining what Moody had discovered. Wilkins' report of that Death Eater attack the day before and the need to view the memory in order to verify that Harry Potter had been the one who had stopped the attack.

"Fine," grunted Madam Bones, "but this had better be legitimate or there will be hell to pay. Understand?"

Her hard gaze passed over both of the men in her office as the said that they understood. The intercom on her desk buzzed for few seconds later.

"Yes, Janene?"

"There is an Auror Wilkins here to see you, ma'am."

"Send him in and we are not to be disturbed for the next hour."

"Yes, ma'am."

The door opened a few moments later and in stepped a very nervous Wilkins holding the vial that contained the memory of the attack. As soon as the nervous Auror was in the room, the DMLE head activated her privacy wards and sealed the room from all forms of eavesdropping.

Turning to a cupboard that was next to her desk, she retrieved a projection pensive. Setting the rune covered bowl on her desk, Madam Bones motioned for Wilkins to put the memory into the bowl. He did.

Tapping a few runes on the side of the pensive, the monocle wearing witch sat back in her chair to watch the memory as it was projected above the bowl. She had made sure that it was projected from the third person point of view so they could see everything that had happened.

The memory started with a young woman of about fifteen with dark brown hair holding hands with two other children. The older one appeared to be a boy with black hair of about ten or eleven years of age. The youngest of the trio was a young girl with dark brown hair of about five or six. All three were dressed up for a day at the beach and some fun in the sand.

The day was perfect, nice and sunny with little to no cloud cover. The crashing surf looked inviting along with the other people that were arriving and setting up places on the sand. The three kids were laughing as they moved towards the beach.

The four Aurors quickly noticed a cloaked figure sitting on a bench that was stationed near the beginning of the sand. The cloaked person had their face turned towards the ocean, so they could not get a look at the person's face. The sitting person was on the small side and did have what seemed to be unruly dark colored hair.

For the next couple of minutes, the four DMLE personnel watched as the three kids setup their beach area for the day. Laying down blankets, putting a cooler next to it, opening an umbrella to provide some shade and erecting a couple of chairs.

"Cindy," asked the young boy looking at the oldest girl, "how long before mum and dad get here?"

The dark haired girl, Cindy, just shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know, Mark, but I'm sure that they will be here soon. Mum did say that they would be awhile since Dad had some chores that needed to be done before they could come down here."

Her brow furrowed in thought, Cindy seemed to make a decision.

"Tell you what, Mark, I'll finish up here and you take Betty down to the water's edge. I know thats what you want to do, so go ahead. Just don't take your eyes off your sister. OK?"

Mark suddenly had a huge smile on his face as he nodded in agreement. Betty giggled her satisfaction with the plan and clapped her tiny hands in joy. Grabbing her brother's hand, the youngest girl led her brother down to the water's edge and into the surf.

Meanwhile, the Director of the DMLE and the other three Aurors kept trying to get a good look at the person sitting on the bench. They were sure that it was Harry Potter, but they didn't want to make a mistake.

They noticed that after making sure that her siblings were staying safe in the water, Cindy had slowly made her way up to edge of the beach. She passed right by the sitting person, but didn't pay him any attention at all.

Bones froze the playback and backed it up. Making some adjustments to the playback, she changed the view to where they were looking over Cindy's shoulder. She was hoping that the young girl got a good look at the face before passing by. She resumed the playback. The others crowded around the pensive to get a better look.

Unfortunately, the small person had his head down looking at the ground as Cindy walked by. Everyone in the room let out a disappointed sigh at that. Of course, they all knew that that would have been too easy.

The memory kept playing. The foursome watched as the young dark haired woman went up to a beach side vendor and bought some things that they had forgotten to bring along. She also glanced back at the person sitting on the bench a couple of times. She also bought a sandwich, a bag of chips and a soft drink.

Leaving the store with her purchases, Cindy hesitantly approached the figure that was sitting on the bench. Once she was close enough, she cleared her throat. The face that looked up at her caused her to gasp slightly in surprise.

Bones stopped the playback right there. It was now confirmed. The person that was sitting on the bench at the edge of the beach was one Harry Potter, but his looks had changed since she had seen him that night in the Ministry Atrium. His once shiny and bright emerald green eyes were now dull and lifeless. He had dark circles around them that suggested that he had not slept well. His face was drawn and gaunt and had an unhealthy pallor to it.

She looked at the other three in the room with her. Moody's reaction was just to shake his head and grumble something under his breath. Looking over at Shacklebolt, the DMLE head saw that his shoulder's were slightly slumped and looking at the young Potter boy with sadness in his eyes. Wilkins on the other hand had a small gleeful look going before he was able to cover it up.

Sighing quietly to herself, Madam Bones pressed a rune to continue the rest of memory, making sure that it was back in third person view.

"Excuse me," the dark haired girl said in a shaky voice, "are you ok?"

The dull eyed boy continued to look at her for a few more seconds then opened his mouth to respond.

"Fine," he said in a very rusty voice, "but I have been better. How can I help you?"

"Um," articulated Cindy, she seemed to gather her courage, "I noticed that you were sitting here all by yourself. From the looks of you, you could use a decent meal, so I bought you this. Please take it."

Looking at the pro-offered food, the gaunt face boy looked back up into the eyes of Cindy. Nodding his head in acceptance, he reached out for the food.

"Come now, lad," grunted the scarred ex Auror, "I thought I taught you better than that. Taking food from a stranger. CON-"

"Moody," interrupted the monocle wearing DMLE head, "if you shout that phrase in my presence one more time, I will have you slapped in irons and taken to the deepest, darkest cell that I have and lock you in it until decide to bring you back. GOT IT!?"

The one known as Mad Eye simply grunted his acknowledgement. His ex boss rewound the playback to catch what she had missed. The memory was restarted from where Harry had reached for the offered meal.

Gently taking the offered meal from Cindy's hands, Harry motioned for the dark hair young lady to sit next him. As Cindy sat down, the watchers could see that she was checking him out. From his three sizes to big clothes, which were basically rags, to his beat up shoes to his gaunt sad looking face.

Even though everyone could see that the dull eyed boy was very hungry, he ate slowly, as if he was savory every bite, every swallow of his drink. The young woman looked away from Harry for a moment to check on her younger brother and sister. She saw that they were playing in the gentle surf near the shoreline.

Turning back to Harry, she introduced herself.

"I'm Cindy Cadwell," she said, extending her hand to Harry.

Wiping his hand on his beat up pants, Harry graciously accepted the hand and gave it a light shake.

"Harry," the gaunt looking young man with rusty voice said.

Dropping her hand, the DMLE people saw the look of concern pass over Cindy's face. They began to wonder if Cindy thought that the young man was homeless.

"What? No last name? Just Harry?"

Swallowing the bite that he had just taken of the sandwich, Harry turned to look at the dark haired young lady. He noticed that she had nice blue eyes.

"Just Harry," he said, nodding his head. "If I mention my last name, you might not live that long afterwards."

His flat emotionless tone caught everyone, both in the memory and in the Director's office off guard. The shock was very evident in Cindy's eyes.

"Surely," the shocked girl stammered, "you're joking, right?"

Harry simply shook his head no as he finished the sandwich and started on the bag of chips. He also took a sip from his drink. Swallowing, he looked Cindy in the eye.

"No, I'm not," he said flatly. "The last two people who knew me were killed recently, both were murdered. Now it is just me. Thank you for the food though. I really appreciate it."

The ones watching the memory could tell that he meant it. They could also see that Cindy still had a bit shock left in her expression.

"So," she said, changing the subject, "why are you here today? You're welcome, by the way."

"Just wanted to see the ocean," the dull eyed boy said without emotion. "Never seen it before. I just wanted to see it one time before I die."

The matter of fact way that Harry had said it left everyone again speechless.

"Are they your family," he continued, pointed at Mark and Betty playing in the surf.

Cindy nodded her head, still speechless.

"You should take them and leave as soon as you can."

"Why," the very worried Cindy asked.

Turning to look at her, she saw that Harry had a distant look in his dull eyes.

"Because death is coming and you should not be here."

His tone left little doubt in the shocked girl's mind, but she still had to question him about it.

"What do you mean," the slightly doubting young lady asked, "'death is coming'? What are you playing at?"

The gaunt faced young man just sighed as he refocused back on Cindy.

"There are things going on that you probably know nothing about. One of them is that there is a terrorist organization that is out to kill people who are not like them. I am also at the top of their 'to be killed' list."

Everyone could see a slight spark had begun to form in Harry's faded emerald eyes as he spoke.

"I also have an inside track to where the next attack is going to happen."

With that, he gestured around the two of them. The watchers could see that Cindy was starting shiver and it was not just from what Harry had said.

"Why is it getting so cold," gasped the now very scared young lady.

Harry had just jerked his head up and looked out to sea. Jumping up, he jerked his wand from his pocket. All around them, people were starting to scream and collapse as the cold and fear spread.

Madam Bones and the others knew what was about to happen next. They all knew the signs. Plus the report had detailed how many had died.

"Quickly," Harry snapped, "what are your brother's and sister's names? Come on!"

"Mark," stuttered the now shivering and nearly comatose Cindy as she slid to the ground from the bench, "and Betty."

Harry quickly cast the summoning charm on the two youngsters. Both of them were unconscious by the time that they had landed next to their sister.

The memory was starting to fade to black, when it suddenly brightened and came back into focus. Everyone could see that Harry had cast his _Patronus._ They saw that because of the power of the charm, the attacking creatures had been driven back.

Cindy was desperately holding onto her two siblings.

"What," stammered Cindy, "what was that? What just happened?"

Crouching down, Harry looked at the young lady, studying her.

"Dementors," he ground out in his rusty voice. "They suck out all of your happy memories, then Kiss you. You die when they do that. I used a spell that drove them away. They really don't like me because I can do that."

Before she could respond, Harry drove on.

"Now," he commanded, "take your family and leave here as fast as you can. I suggest that you do it now, before the second part shows up."

Several pops proved that it was too late for that. Harry spun around to face the new threat. What he, along with the watchers, saw was a wall of black cloaked figures wearing silver death masks. His wand at the low ready position, the gaunt faced young man looked at the new arrivals with his dead cold emerald eyes.

"Ah," asked one of the cloak wearing terrorists in a cruelly happy voice, "what do we have here? A filthy Muggle or a no account Squid and her dirty offspring?"

By this time, the Death Eaters had arranged themselves into semi-circle in front of Harry and the three others. The one in the center suddenly gasped.

"Well, well," the center one spoke in a sickly sweet baby's voice, "if it isn't ickle bitty baby Potter."

"Bellatrix," breathed Harry.

Faster than Bellatrix and her Death Eater team could react, and those that were watching could follow, Harry attacked. It was over before it had even dawned on the black cloak wearing terrorists that they were in danger.

In less than ten seconds, Harry had cast a barrage of hexes and curses, all of them designed to do maximum damage in the shortest amount of time possible. When everyone of the watchers' eyes had cleared from the brilliantly colored magical display, they saw that only Bellatrix was still standing, and then just barely.

Madam Bones stopped the playback again and set it to restart from when Harry had cast his first spell. She had also set it to identify each spell that he had cast. Restarting it, the memory started playing again in slow motion.

The observers found out that Harry had barely moved his wand during his attack. The only movement that could be seen was him moving the tip to line up with each target. The first couple of spells seemed to be area affect spells, broad area stunners and a bone breaker, thus freezing the Death Eaters in place for the next set. All of the follow on spells looked all most exactly the same in color, that of pure black. The final two spells looked to a paralyzing hex and an _Incarsarus_.

The runic bowl was only able to identify the first two spells and the last two. The others came up as unknown.

Deciding to let the memory play out at normal speed, Bones tapped a rune and the playback speed up to normal speed.

"How," gasped a paralyzed Bellatrix.

Harry looked her dead in the eye as he spoke.

"Since you and your kind," Harry rasped out in his rusty voice, "took everything from me, I have nothing left to live for, so I no longer care. I will now use whatever it takes to take you down. Goodbye, Bella-Bitch. See you in hell."

His emotionless voice sent shivers down everyone's spines as they heard him say it. With that, Harry sent a _Reducto_ to Bellatrix's head, ending Voldemort's most feared Death Eater. The dull eyed young man looked at the other Death Eaters and simply nodded. He knew that they would not be getting back up.

Turning back to look at Cindy and her two siblings, Harry saw that her face contained fear, shock and awe at what she had just seen. Squatting down so they were on the same eye level, Harry stared into hers.

"The Aurors," he finally ground out, "will be here soon to clean this mess up. I will not be here when they do. They will probably ask you what happened. Tell them everything that you saw. Let them know that I did this. Goodbye, Cindy Cadwell, and thank you for the meal."

Standing back up, the broken young man gave the shocked Cindy a sad smile, then he seemed to disappear before her eyes. Once he was gone, the dazed and confused young lady collapsed back to the ground, holding onto her unconscious siblings.

After an indeterminate amount of time, she heard several small pops. Fearing the worst, she clutched her brother and sister to her as she waited for what she thought would be the end.

To those watching the awe inspiring memory, what Harry had just done to a Death Eater strike team was supposed to be impossible. But then again, the Boy-Who-Lived seemed to be able to do the impossible and did it routinely.

The rest of the memory showed the sudden departure of all of the Death Eaters and the arrival of the Aurors and Medi-personnel.

"Timed Portkeys," mused the scarred Moody.

"That makes sense," agreed Madam Bones. "It does explain why we have never found any Death Eaters at an attack sight, even when we know some of the were either killed or wounded. It would definitely keep us wondering if we are making any progress at all if we don't have the bodies."

Everyone turned back to the playing memory and saw that during their conversation, a Medi-Witch had found Cindy and her siblings.

"Are you alright," asked the concerned Medi-Witch. "Can you understand me? Do you or these children with you need any assistance?"

Cindy just groaned out loud as she clutched her brother and sister to her.

"Dementors," she finally croaked out. "He said it was Dementors. Then Bella-something."

The Medi-Witch gasped at that. Quickly pulling vials from her pack, she also pulled out some chocolate bars. Handing one to Cindy, the St Mungo's Healer told her to eat it. She then set about working on Betty and Mark.

"Hmm," she muttered under her breath, "Dementor exposure, partial drowning, a summoning charm, some minor abrasions to the skin, nothing to bad."

Casting a charm to spell a minor healing potion into each of the two unconscious children, the Medi-Witch then removed the accumulated amount of water from each child's lungs. She then cast her final charm, one that woke the kids up.

"There we are," she said cheerily as Mark and Betty work up, "all better now. Have them drink this, then eat some of that chocolate. It will make them all better."

With that, the St Mungo's Healer moved off to see who else she could help. Once the Medi-Witch had departed, Wilkins approached Cindy. The memory finally faded to black and ended.

"Well," Mad Eye groused, "it seems that Potter has been holding back on us."

Madam Bones turned to look at the scarred ex Auror and raised an eye brow in silent question.

"From what I've learned," the unperturbed Moody growled as he stared at his former boss, "Potter has an above average amount of power and a huge amount of luck. With my little eye, I can see that the boy is almost as powerful as Dumbledore, almost being the relative term. I wonder where he learned those spells though. I know that they aren't taught by anyone. Black Library maybe?"

"Be that as it may," the DMLE Director stated, "as of now, we have a missing young man. He also appears to be a target for He-Who-Must-Not-Named. I want him found and I want it done now."

"Auror Wilkins," she said turning to the most junior person in the room, "did you _Obliviate_ the young lady and her siblings?"

The suddenly nervous young Auror shook his head that he had not done so.

"Why not?"

"Um, well," the very nervous Pureblood Auror stuttered, "you're not going to believe this, but I could swear that when I was about to, I saw a pair of burning green eyes staring from over that girl's shoulder. I just knew that if I had done that, well, I just knew that those eyes would have killed me."

The look in the young man's eyes was just begging to be believed. The other three shared a look among themselves then finally decided to cut the junior Auror some slack.

"Alright," the monocle wearing DMLE head said, "we will trust you on that, but we will discuss it later. Be prepared to give us a memory copy of the event. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Shack, I want you to take Wilkins here and a squad of Aurors and find young Mr. Potter. Do whatever you have to to find him, just get it done. Start at the site of yesterday's attack"

The tall black Auror simply nodded his head in acceptance of his orders.

"Moody, as of now, you are recalled to active duty."

A light flashed around the scarred Moody.

"Your job now is to locate Potter. Do it however you like, just get it done. I want a progress report from all of you by the end of the day. Move it!"

As the other three were heading towards the door, alarms started going off all over the Ministry.

**Gringotts Wizarding Bank**

**Diagon Alley**

**London, England**

**About 230 pm the same day**

Blackrock was having a conundrum, yes that was word. He was having a conundrum.

Blackrock was one of the youngest leaders of that the British Goblins had known. He was tall for a Goblin, measuring close to five and half feet in height. Even though he was old by human standards, he was considered young by Goblins, being only three hundred and forty five years old. His bald head, glittering gold earrings and wrinkly skin marked him as an aging Goblin. His attitude and mode of dress marked him as a leader.

The other thing was that he had only been the Goblin leader for a short time, only fifty five years. His father had turned over the reins of power during what the humans called the 1930s. Blackrock had led the Nation out of that economic fiasco in just a few short years and profits had been soaring ever since.

At about 830 that morning, his oldest daughter had been taken by parties unknown. Once he had been notified what had happened, he had locked down the bank. No one in or out, that included those patrons that had been in the bank lobby at the time.

From what he had been able to piece together, at that time, there had been a serious accident down in the dragon chamber and the bulk of the Healers that were employed by the bank had been called down to chamber, including his mate and his oldest daughter. Since his mate and his daughter were going down there, a contingent of several guards had also gone along.

What had happened next was still a bit hazy, but the end result had been that his mate had been wounded and his daughter taken. The guard contingent had been slaughtered to a man, except one. He had defended Blackrock's mate until help could arrive. The ones responsible had managed to vanish, along with his daughter, via portkey just as help arrived.

He had, at first, thought that it was an attempt to prove that he could not lead the British Goblin Nation properly, by failing to protect those that he held dearest. His next thoughts had, after talking with the surviving guard and his mate, had been that the human wizards known as Death Eaters were some how involved. He had been proven right on both counts.

The Goblin leader had started the interrogations immediately after locking the bank down. The humans in the bank lobby had been the first ones to be done and cleared. Then the human employees. All had been cleared. That left just the Goblins themselves.

The process had been in full swing, when a note had arrived saying that Voldemort now had custody of Blackrock's beloved daughter and that he was willing to negotiate for her release. A representative would be calling within the hour to start the negotiations.

Blackrock had quickly called for his most trusted advisors and generals. He wanted a strike team ready to go as soon as negotiations were done. No one did this to his family and got away with it, no one.

The team had assembled quickly and had gone over the options. The investigation had revealed that it was a rogue element of a rival Goblin clan that had done the deed and that none of the current human employees had been involved. The best Cursebreakers had been able to track the portkey signature to a town, but not a specific location. The town was Little Hangleton.

The Goblin leader had told the assembled Goblin Generals that there was to be nothing done to the Death Eaters until he said so. The others had reluctantly agreed, but insisted that a crack guard unit be in the same room at all times. He had agreed, it only made sense.

Not five minutes after the final arrangements had been made, two Security Goblins had led in a trio of wizards dressed in Death Eater regalia, all flowing black robes and silver death head masks. Blackrock had just sat impassively behind his giant desk, waiting for his unwelcome visitors to make the first move.

Their opening move had been to sit down without being asked, well the one who had been the leader sat down, while the other two took up flanking positions next to him. With a contemptuous move, the lead Death Eater had removed his mask to show that he was Lucius Malfoy.

This prima donna Death Eater had then laid a priceless jewel on the desk between to the two. The Goblin leader had known right away that it belonged to his daughter. The idiot had then proceeded to lay out the Dark Lord's demands for the safe return of his precious daughter.

It had boiled down to that the Dark Lord had wanted total control of the bank and all of the wizarding financial apparatus. Blackrock had just been about to respond to those demands, when two of the Death Eaters had suddenly clutched at their left forearms and had started to shriek in pain.

The third one had not, but had just stood there for a split second before the cloaked person had started casting furiously at the Goblin leader. He had been cut down by the invisible bodyguards before the first spell had hit the shield that had been raised in front of the giant desk by the desk itself. The third person had turned out to be a Hit Wizard with a reputation for working for who ever offered the most money.

All of the Goblins had watched in horror as the two Death Eaters continued to writhe in extreme pain on the floor. As suddenly as it had begun, it ended. To the continued shock of the Goblins in the room, the corpses had started to decompose right there. By the time that the decomposition had finished, the two dead Death Eaters looked like fifteen year old dead bodies, skeletons with strings of meat still attached. The only thing that was still in pristine condition was the clothes that had been worn.

Before anyone could react, the door to the Goblin leader's office burst open. An out of breath Goblin was standing there with a piece of parchment clutched in his gnarled claw. The guards in the room had just barely stopped themselves from killing the new arrival at his abrupt appearance. The out of breath Goblin thrust the parchment into the hands of Blackrock, stating that it held the location of the portkey that had taken his daughter.

There could have been only one way for the portkey trace to complete like that, the wards surrounding the property had fallen. Riddle Manor, Little Hangleton had been written on it.

Within a few moments, the strike team had been assembled and rushed off to save the Goblin leader's eldest daughter. They had arrived to a scene of devastation. The grounds surrounding the Manor had been littered with what was left of Death Eater corpses. Most of them had decayed to the point of skeletons. Some though looked still fresh, like they had just laid down on the ground. It had been very disturbing seeing that.

Smashing in the front double doors, the Goblin strike team had then rushed into the Manor's front hallway. The same scene greeted them there also, various corpses in different stages of decay. The smell had been appalling.

Teams had then split off from the main group to search the decaying Manor. Blackrock and his security guards had slowly made their way along the hallway to a set of double doors at the end. One of the doors had been blown completely off its hinges, while the other had been hanging haphazardly from its top hinge.

The surprise of the day had been seen in that room. The room, at one time, had been a ballroom, but it looked like it had been converted into a throne room of sorts. Sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, cradling a body, had been the missing Mara, Blackrock's eldest daughter. Off to one side, lay the corpse of Tom Riddle, aka Lord Voldemort.

Practically running to his daughter's side, the elder leader of the British Goblin Nation had been worried that she had been injured or killed. Seeing that she had been still alive had been a great relief to him.

She had still been dressed in the same clothes that she had worn that morning, minus the protective artifacts that she always wore. Mara had been dressed in a loose fitting tunic, belted at the waist. Her form fitting boots had been removed, but her pants had been left in place. Blackrook had been under no illusions about what might have happened to his daughter if she had been left in the Death Eaters care any longer than necessary.

"Come, Daughter," he had commanded, "we must leave this place before the human Aurors arrive and accuse us of doing this atrocity. Leave the human that you are holding for his own kind to find."

"I can't, Father," Mara had said as she looked up into his eyes. The anguish that resided in those eyes had been heart breaking.

Looking down at the wizard that she had been clutching, he had finally realized who it was, Harry Potter. He had then gasped as he saw the condition the young man had been in. Burned on the left side of his face to the point where bone could be seen. Most of his hair was gone, leaving blackened skin in its place. The entire left side of his body had suffered severe damage, just like his head. His clothes had been ripped in several places and his right leg was clearly broken. Only his right arm had appeared to be in working condition.

"Why not," the confused father had asked.

"I owe him, father," the Goblin daughter had responded. "He saved my life at great risk to his own. I am in his debt."

That had caused a major stir among the male Goblins in the room, most notably Blackrock. Mara, and by extension the ruling Goblin clan, now owed a life debt to a human wizard.

"Father," the recently rescued lady Goblin healer had continued, "I have used what little knowledge of healing that I have in order to keep him alive. He needs more and better care than I can provide at this time."

Turning to the strike team Healers, he had nodded his head and the two Healers had sprung into action. Within moments, they had had the wounded young man stabilized enough for transport to the Gringotts medical clinic. They had informed the aging Goblin leader that Mara was unhurt except for some bruising and that they had to move the young hero quickly or he would die.

Barking more orders to his protective detail, Blackrook had given his ok for them to transport the human to the medical clinic and to do what they could for him. He had also ordered that the wands of the dead be collected, along with the body of Voldemort. Seeing a pile of various objects laying near his daughter, the Goblin leader had told his men to gather those to, just in case. He had formed a plan when his daughter had told him of her predicament.

Everything had been gathered as quickly as possible. Once all of the wands had been collected, the strike team had returned to Gringotts, taking Voldemort's body with them. Then had come the planning session to refine the plan that he had come up with at the dead Dark Lord's hideout.

That had been hours ago.

Blackrock was brought out of his thoughts when there was knock on his door. Realizing the time, the Goblin leader told the knocker to enter. It turned out to be his Head Healer with her hourly report.

Bowing to her leader, she began her update.

"Milord, as per your instructions, here is the current status of those in our medical wing. Your mate is almost ready to be released. Her injuries have been fully healed, but she will have some soreness for a day or two. Her last surviving guard will still in the wing for the foreseeable future. His injures were more severe than your mate's, Milord."

"Your daughter is coming along fine. Her bruises and scrapes are all healed and she is already back on duty. There is a note here, Sire, but I am hesitant to mention it."

With that, the elder Goblin Healer looked up at her king. Seeing his grim expression and his nod, she carried on.

"It seems upon further examination, Mara had an attempted assault upon her person. I say attempted, because it was not completed. I don't know why. It most likely happened while she was unconscious, Sire."

The Goblin leader knew what that meant. If someone had actually carried out the assault of his daughter, he would have had to declare a feud against who ever had done the deed. If it was a Goblin, then his clan would have been wiped from the race. If a human wizard had done it, his nation would be preparing for war right now.

"Continue," he grunted.

"She was subjected to the Pain Curse several times. She has been treated for that. We expect no long term affects from it."

"Milord, I really don't know where to begin with the Human wizard who is currently residing in out bays."

"Has his condition changed from an hour ago, Catha?"

"No, Sire," the elderly Healer said shaking her head. "Our best Healers are still working on him. Mara is helping as much as she can by telling us what spells she saw land on him. His burns are slowly responding to treatment, but he will have severe scarring. He is still unconscious, but his magical core is refilling at an exponential rate."

"His blood analysis shows some intriguing results, Sire. There is some Basilisk venom and what appears to be Phoenix tears contained the young wizard's blood. One can only speculate as to how that got there."

"If he remains unconscious for much longer, we will have to move him to a private room to continue treatment. I have been also asked how this is to be billed. How is it to be billed, Sire?"

Blackrock knew that the young boy's treatments was costing a small fortune, but it had to be done. The Goblin Nation owed him a debt, and Goblins were loathe to owe debts. Even healing the boy's injuries would erase the debt, just lower it a little. He had, after all, saved the entire Goblin race from extinction.

"It is to be billed to the Gringotts operations account. Not only did he save my daughter, by defeating the Human wizard known as Lord Voldemort, he saved our race from being wiped out. He is to be taken care of, Catha. It has to be done."

Now the elder healer understood what was at stake. The entire Goblin race owed this young man their lives and fortunes.

"It will be done, Milord."

With that, the Healer withdrew from the opulent office.

Sighing heavily, Blackrock turned in his chair and looked at the memory that was still swirling in the runic bowl that sat on the edge of his desk. The memory within was that of his daughter's as she witnessed the battle between Harry Potter and Voldedmort. Sighing again, he sealed his door and plunged his head into the memory.

Mara woke up in a damp dingy cell. The only light was come from a permanent light spell affixed to the ceiling. She looked down at her clothes and saw that they had been ripped in places. Waving her hand over her body, the young Goblin Healer used her innate magic to repair the rips and tears. She also noticed that all of her valuable Goblin made possessions had been removed.

Like her father, Mara was tall for a Goblin, being about five foot five inches tall. She had long lustrous black hair that hung done to the middle of her shoulder blades. While her ears were not as long as male Goblins, they were still pointed. Her hair covered those up. With a sharp angular face, the young female Goblin could have passed for a human, except for the color of her skin and the shape of her nose, long and pointed. Her mouth was also full of sharp teeth.

Moving carefully to the cell door, Mara tried, just in case. It was locked and warded. She gasped in surprise when she felt the wards were of Goblin make along with Human.

_So_, the Goblin Healer thought,_ I did see correctly. I was Goblinnapped by some of my Father's enemies. I didn't recognize any of them, so they must be from a rival clan._

Still deep in thought, Mara moved slowly around her cell checking for any weak points in the cell's walls and wards. She found nothing.

A scraping sound alerted her to the fact that someone was at the door. Instead of being unlocked, a small trap door was opened and some food, water and a piece of parchment was shoved through. The trap door was closed to quickly for her to do anything about it.

Retrieving the meager meal and the parchment, Mara sat down on the floor of the cell and looked at her food. To her refined palate, it was just slop. Something that looked to be some sort of meat gruel. Casting a detection charm, she found nothing wrong with the food, just that it was in an unclean bowl. She growled at that.

Sipping her slop, she opened the folded piece of parchment and started to read. It basically said that she was now the captive the human Dark Lord and was to be used as a bargaining chip against her father for certain concessions. Once she had reached that part of the note, the young Goblin Healer knew that she would soon either be dead or rescued. There was no middle ground.

_Well_, the daughter of Blackrock thought, _it would seem that these idiots really don't understand Goblins. I will be lucky to see the end of the day. Still that doesn't mean that I can't take a few of the dragon droppings with me._

Her feral grin would have scarred any sane creature, if there had been anyone to see it.

Finishing her meat gruel, Mara set the bowl down and reread the note. Finally setting that next to the bowl, the young Goblin Lady closed her eyes and preceded to make herself ready for anything.

Some time later, she was brought out of her trance when sharp hearing heard something happening outside her cell door. It had sounded like a limp body hitting the ground. Putting herself into a crouch, Mara got ready to spring at whoever opened the door. With a feral smile showing all of her pointed teeth, she waited for the dead person walking to open the door.

Then there was the sound of bolts being thrown open and started to ease open a bit. It stopped after only a few inches. A set of keys was tossed into the room, clattering loudly as they landed on the slimy floor of the cell.

"Those are the keys for the rest of the cells," a rusty voice said from the other side of the doorway. "I am asking you to release whomever you find in the other cells and get them out of here. The way is clear up the staircase and out through the kitchen door. The ward line is about twenty meters past the door."

Taking a sniff, Mara tried to make sense of the smells that were coming from outside of her cell. She could smell a powerful human wizard out there, but he was so young. He also smelled of both life and death. The vexed Goblin Healer slowly crouched down to get the keys, but never took her eyes off of the door. The keys jingled as she picked them up.

"Good," came the rusty voice again. "And just so you know that this is not a trick, I swear on my magic and my life that I am not here to harm you in any way."

There was a small flash of light from outside the slightly open door.

Satisfied, Mara edged over to the door and pushed it open just enough that she could fit through without any trouble. What she found on the other side of the door surprised her.

Standing about five feet in front of her was a young wizard with a gaunt and drawn looking face. The haggard appearance of the youth's face is not what surprised her, it was the faded, almost deathly pale, emerald green eyes. They looked like they should be on a cadaver instead of a young man.

Mara also took in the gauntness of the young lad and his smaller than average height. It was shocking to her that so much power could be contained within such a frail looking body. That he also smelled of life and death was shocking. It just didn't add up.

"Quickly now," the gaunt faced young man growled. "You have to be away before Voldemort finds out that you're gone."

"Who are you," Mara asked finally finding her voice.

"Someone who no longer cares," he said shrugging his shoulders. "It's time to end this. Please, just get out of her with whomever you find in these cells. I will hold off Voldemort long enough for you to escape."

Before the young Healer could ask again, the haggard looking youth continued.

"It doesn't matter, but I am Harry. Now, please go."

With that, the youth she now knew as Harry turned on his heel and moved up the hallway to stairs and disappeared up them. Shacking her head, Mara did as he had asked and started to open the other cell doors. As she moved down the hallway opening the doors, she noticed that there were several Death Eater bodies laying on the hallway floor, dead.

Out of all of the cells that she opened, only five others were still alive. All of them were female and each had been horribly abused. The really sad part was that most of them were between the ages of twelve and sixteen. These human wizards were just sick if they could do this to their young.

It took Mara several minutes to persuade the young girls to come with her. In the end, the girls finally realized that this might be their only chance at escaping, and decided to take it.

The group of six ladies had just made it to the top of the stairs when the whole building started to shake, raining debris down upon them. The five human girls started screaming and fled out of the kitchen door and to the outside world. Mara was torn between fleeing with them or going to see if she could help her rescuer. In the end, it came down to honor. He had saved her, she now owed him a debt and it had to be repaid.

Sighing, Mara turned and followed the sounds of battle and explosions. The building was really starting to shake badly by the time that she had made it to room that the battle was happening. All along the way, she saw bodies of Death Eaters. It was a grizzly site to behold. The smell of death and bodily fluids was everywhere she looked.

Pressing herself against the wall, the young Goblin Healer peaked around the broken door jam and into the room. The large room had at one time been a rather opulent ballroom, but it was now in shambles, with only two people remaining alive in the room as they danced the dance of death.

The spells that the duo were throwing at each other were more powerful than she had ever seen or heard about. The spells were flying fast and furious. Most of them she could not even identify, let alone even begin to understand. Mara continued to watch in awe as this whelp was holding his own against an older and more experienced wizard.

After several more curses were traded, the one that she knew to be Voldemort, due to his snake like appearance, paused.

"Very good, young Harry," hissed the Dark Lord, the effect was ruined slightly as he panted for breath. "You are more powerful than I was led to believe and you are using curses that not even Dumbledore would use. Tell me, where did you learn them?"

"Does it really matter, Tom," panted Harry. "You and yours have taken everything from me. My family, my Godfather and finally, my Hermione. This ends today, Tom, one way or another."

"Normally, I would curse you to within an inch of your life for calling me that, but you have proven yourself worthy of possibly being my equal. For that, I give you one last chance to join me, young Harry. Join me or die, the choice is yours."

While the two were trading words, Mara took the time to observe both of them. Each had been hit with several hexes and curse. Voldemort seemed to be favoring his right side a little and blood was running from several cuts. Harry was limping a bit and sported a gash along his left side. Both were nearing their physical limits.

"What do you think, Tom? The day I join up with you is the day that Satan goes to work with a snowplow."

"So be it," hissed the snake like man. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Harry spun to his right out of the way of the death curse and returned fire with severing curse. With that, the duel was back on. The spells started to increase in power and frequency. Slowly, spells started to turn to just one color, black, with the occasional red, green or brown. The only sound that either combatant made was a grunt, hiss or groan as the duel continued.

Finally, it happened. Harry was a bit slow in dodging some type of flame spell. It struck the entire left side of his body. The young emerald eyed wizard crashed to the ground in a heap.

"And so it ends," Voldemort panted as he limped towards the downed Harry. "The legend of the 'Boy Who Lived'. It ended the only way that it could, with you being defeated by the greatest wizard of all time, Lord Voldemort. Any last words, young Harry, before you die?"

The Goblin Healer had tears in her eyes as she watched Harry role over with a groan to face Voldemort. She could see that he only had one good eye left with which to see out of. It focused on Voldemort.

"Yeah," hissed Harry in pain and shock. "'but ... he ... will ... have ... power … the ... Dark ... Lord ... knows ... not'."

"And what is that?"

"Part … of … Prophecy," panted the wounded Harry. "I … know... what … it … means."

"Really," hissed the Dark Lord sarcastically. "And what is this power that you have that I, the greatest wizard of all time, do not have.

"_**DEATH**_!"

The voice that issued that statement from the downed young man's throat was both awe inspiring and terrible at the same time. It was other worldly and projected vast power. Ancient yet new. It also promised a final resolution for all things.

Mara froze at the sound of the voice coming from Harry. It filled her hope and dread at the same time. Instinctually, she knew that she was no longer looking at Harry, but something else. Something that could destroy the world, or save it. So did Voldemort.

"Avada Kedavra," screamed the snake like man.

The prone form just batted the death spell away like one would an annoying gnat. The figure slowly stood up as if the horrendous damage that Harry's body had suffered meant nothing. Pure black eyes stared at the suddenly scared Lord Voldemort.

"_**I have waited a long time for this moment**_," the other worldly voice said from Harry's body. "_**You are one of the few to have escaped my grasp for so long. It ends now.**_"

The Dark Lord started screaming spells at Harry's body, but none of them connected. All were batted away with contempt. Mara could now see and smell the fear coming from the evil human wizard.

"I beat you," screamed the scared Dark Lord. "I am immortal! You can't take me! I am protected from you!"

"_**What? You mean these?**_"

With a wave of Harry's hand, several objects appeared in front of Harry. Mara could instantly feel the wrongness of the items. They seemed to be alive somehow and cast an evil shadow.

Voldemort gasped as he saw his soul anchors appear. There were five of them: a ring, a tiara, a cup, a locket and his familiar, Nagini. The sixth one, his Hogwarts diary, had been destroyed during Malfory's ill timed try to remove Dumbledore and shame the Blood Traitors, the Weasleys.

"NO," the fear laced Voldemort screamed and started firing spells at the being in front of him.

Each spell was simply absorbed or, if less harmful, batted away.

"_**When will you mortals learn,**_" asked the being possessing Harry. "_**Nothing escapes Death! Everything dies. Someday, I too will be at an end, but that is a long time coming. Now to deal with you, young one.**_"

The pitiless gaze froze both the young Goblin Healer and the dreaded Dark Lord.

"_**Did you really believe that these would protect you from me? The moment you created one, you, young mortal, sealed your fate. Once you made one, a champion was selected to battle you. This champion would then be given powers that you would not know. One being the exact opposite of your main driving force, the other is access to me for a short while."**_

"_**For the latter to happen, the first power must somehow be negated. That happened with the death of this mortal's love, thus allowing me access when needed. Although I was hoping that that would not happen. The last time I visited here, it was called the Black Plague."**_

"_**Now to end this," **_stated that avatar of Death. "_**First, a just punishment for you. You have upset the balance of Life and Death by creating these anchors. Because of that, you have caused the premature death of those who should have lived and extended the life of those who should have died along with you. Time to correct that. Come to me, the marked souls that follow this false Lord."**_

A blinding light and terrifying noise filled the room as several hundred shrieking souls filled the once opulent room and formed a glowing ball in front of Harry's body. After several moments of looking closely at the glowing ball, Death's avatar waved it's hand and the ball of shrieking souls vanished. What Mara did not know was at that was when the two Death Eaters who were with her father clutched their arms as they died and decayed.

Mara could see that a look of concentration that passed over Harry's ruined face. Before to long, a black mist slowly seeped from the famous scar on the emerald eyed wizard. The five other objects also started to emit a black mist. Once every last particle had been collected into another hovering ball in front of Harry, the being inspected it closely.

With a satisfied sigh, Death's avatar waved it's hand and the floating ball disappeared without a sound. Harry's body turned it's gaze to the frozen Dark Lord.

"_**Now for you, oh feared one**_," the avatar said mockingly.

To Mara's surprise, the being didn't just wave it's hand at the Voldemort's body, instead she saw a beam of light start to emit from the created body that housed the final piece of Tom Marvolo Riddle's soul. The light was Death's avatar draining the magic that held the body together. Once the magic had been drained, down to the last bit, the manufactured body simply fell apart.

What was left was the final soul piece floating where the body had just been standing. It was an ugly black mist that was shaped like an ugly baby. To Mara's surprise, she could hear it as it started to whimper.

With a slight wave of it's hand, Death's avatar banished the final piece of the once feared Dark Lord to it's final reward. The possessed body then turned it's head to the frozen Goblin Healer. What she saw caused her breath to freeze in her throat. Both eyes, even the ruined one, were pitch black with no pupils and the expression was not human.

"_**Mortal, I can see that you owe this being,"**_ Harry's possessed body spoke to her gently, _**"a form of debt. Normally, my possessing a host like this would cause it to burn up by now but he more powerful than those that I have possessed in the past. The most powerful in fact, but it is not without cost."**_

"_**I have always regretted," **_the being known as Death sighed,_** "that sometimes I am forced to take this action. Mostly because I have to end the life of the one that I possess, but this one's struggles are not done yet. There is more for him to do. For that, I must leave him alive, but there is the cost."**_

"_**I am both life and death. A balance must be maintained, a reckoning of sorts. Those souls that I took earlier were in payment for the ones that they ended before it was their time. But there is still an imbalance. There have been more souls ended early than I have been allowed to take as payment. If I give this body the accumulated life of those that have been ended early that are still out of balance, then he will live as long as you or a dragon, it is not certain."**_

"_**And there in lies the problem. He is a mortal human and is supposed to live for no more than a few hundred years. He has just suffered the greatest lose one of his kind can suffer, the lose of one's life mate. If I do this, he will no longer be human in a sense, but one of the Elder Races."**_

"_**In order to maintain the balance that is necessary, will you, Mara, eldest daughter of Blackrock, leader of the British Goblin Nation, agree to become his new life mate in exchange for the debt that is owed?"**_

She was gobsmacked at what this being was asking of her. Finally, she found her voice.

"And what will the cost be to this human? Will his mind remember what has just transpired? Will he remember this conversation? Will his wounds and scars heal?"

"_**Ah,"**_ the being known as Death chuckled, like his voice, it sent chills up and down the Goblin Healer's spine, _**"already thinking of him. That is good. The cost to him, physically, is not that great. His wounds will heal, in time. The scars that will result from that last curse will always be with him, but they can be minimized to an extent."**_

"_**No, his last memory will be that of speaking to his enemy, then darkness. He will know that he defeated the one that he was chosen to defeat, but like that night so long ago, he will not remember. It will be up to you if you wish to tell him."**_

"_**The biggest cost, as you put it, will be to his soul. He will be angry that he has survived yet again when he was looking for Death so he could join those that he cares about most. He will grieve for a time, but it will pass. The cost is this, because of my presence in his body, he will know, at times, when Death is approaching those he meets, but it will not be all of the time, just sometimes. It is unavoidable, since Death does leave its mark in some way."**_

"_**This young mortal will need you and yours for support, along with one other, who will make her presence known soon. Do you accept this exchange for the debt?"**_

Mara just stood there for several moments, just staring into the eyes of Death, trying to make the right decision. No matter what eventually happened, she was bound to this human in some way, since he had saved her on his own and at great cost to himself.

With a sigh, the beautiful young Goblin Healer nodded her head in acceptance as she spoke formally.

"I, Mara, eldest daughter of Blackrock, leader of the British Goblin Nation, do hereby accept the terms laid out by the being known as Death in exchange for the debt that is owed."

"_**Very well then,"**_ the otherworldly presence said. _**"I leave this one in your hands. And to make it easier, here."**_

With a final wave of it's hand before the possessing entity left, it caused the various pieces of Voldemort's body to reform and once again be the snake like body of the most feared evil wizard of all time. Once that was done, Mara could feel the presence leave and Harry's body collapsed back to the floor of the room.

As soon as Death had left, the young Goblin Healer rushed to the downed young man's side. With several waves of her hand, she poured all of the healing spells that she knew into partially ruined body. After that was done, there was nothing that she could do, so she sat down next to Harry's prone form and gently pulled it into her lap.

She then began the wait, for she knew that her father would on his way soon. She knew this because she had felt the wards fail with the death of the Dark Lord. Sure enough, after a few minutes, her father and several of his guards poured into the ruined room.

At that point, Blackrock forced his way out of the memory and back to reality.

_Well, that explains a lot_, the suddenly weary Goblin leader thought. _For now though, I will have to make my daughter's vow work and with such a famous human wizard too._

Glancing over at his gold encrusted Grandfather clock, he saw that it was almost time for his most important meeting of the day. With another weary sigh, the youngest British Goblin leader set about prepping for the meeting.

* * *

Ok, I know, a bad place to leave it, but this is pretty much what I have written so far. I am still working on the meeting and the follow on scenes. Then there will be a bit of time jump and then the story will continue for a bit. Let me know what you thought of it.

Later.


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